How to Analyze Share of Voice Across Platforms

Marketing

Feb 7, 2025

Learn how to measure your brand's visibility against competitors through Share of Voice analysis across various platforms.

Want to know how visible your brand is compared to competitors? Share of Voice (SOV) is the key. It measures your brand’s visibility as a percentage of the total market across platforms like social media, search engines, paid ads, and media coverage.

Key Steps to Analyze SOV:

Pick Platforms: Focus on where your audience and competitors are active (e.g., LinkedIn for B2B, Instagram for B2C).
Use Tools: Tools like Ahrefs (SEO), Brandwatch (social mentions), and Google Ads (PPC) simplify data collection.
Calculate SOV: Use the formula:
Your Brand’s Metric ÷ Total Market Metric × 100
Combine Data: Normalize metrics across platforms for a clear, unified view.
Track Trends: Spot patterns like seasonal shifts or competitor moves.

Quick Tip:

Visualize your data with charts (e.g., pie charts for social media, bar graphs for PPC) and use automated tools like Metrics Watch for streamlined reporting.

Why it matters: SOV helps you identify gaps, refine strategies, and stay ahead of competitors in a crowded market.

How to Measure Your Social Media Share of Voice

Data Collection Methods

Choosing Key Platforms

Start by identifying platforms where your audience is most active, your competitors are present, and the content fits the platform's format. For example, LinkedIn is often a go-to for B2B brands, while Instagram and Facebook are more popular for B2C companies. Once you've nailed down the right platforms, you'll need the right tools to gather data effectively.

Data Collection Tools

Using the right tools is essential for collecting and analyzing data efficiently. Here's a quick breakdown of some popular tools and their main uses:

| Tool Type | Primary Use | Key Metrics |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ahrefs | SEO Analysis | Search visibility, keyword rankings |
| Brandwatch | Social Listening | Brand mentions, sentiment analysis |
| Google Ads | PPC Monitoring | Impression share, <a href="https://metricswatch.com/improving-click-through-rates-guide" data-framer-link="Link:{"url":"https://metricswatch.com/improving-click-through-rates-guide","type":"url"}">click-through rates</a> |
| Metrics Watch | Cross-Platform Reporting | <a href="https://www.metricswatch.com/centralized-marketing-data" data-framer-link="Link:{"url":"https://www.metricswatch.com/centralized-marketing-data","type":"url"}">Consolidated marketing data</a>, <a href="https://www.metricswatch.com/reasons-to-start-automated-reporting" data-framer-link="Link:{"url":"https://www.metricswatch.com/reasons-to-start-automated-reporting","type":"url"}">automated reports</a> |

For instance, Metrics Watch simplifies reporting by automating data delivery across platforms, making it easier to monitor share of voice metrics regularly. However, tools are only as good as the data they process, so maintaining quality is crucial.

Data Quality Standards

To ensure your data is reliable, focus on validating your sources, removing irrelevant mentions, and performing routine audits. Use automated alerts to flag unusual changes, apply filters to weed out false positives, and review your data monthly to maintain consistency. This structured approach ensures your share of voice analysis remains dependable over time.

"Share of voice measures the percentage of brand awareness within a given market that is attributed to a particular brand, company, or product." - Brand24

Share of Voice Measurement

Basic Calculation Methods

To calculate share of voice, divide your brand's metrics by the total market metrics, then multiply by 100. This formula works across different marketing channels. For example, you can calculate your share on social media by dividing your brand's mentions by the total mentions in your market. Similarly, in PPC campaigns, you can calculate impression share using this method.

Platform-Specific Metrics

Each platform requires its own approach for measuring share of voice effectively:

| Platform | Key Metrics | How to Measure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PPC Advertising | Impression Share | Use Google Ads’ built-in impression share feature |
| Social Media | Brand Mentions, Sentiment | Use social listening tools to track mentions and sentiment |
| Organic Search | Keyword Rankings, Backlinks | Use SEO tools to assess search visibility percentages

For social media, it’s important to evaluate both the number of mentions (quantitative data) and the tone or sentiment behind those mentions (qualitative insights). In PPC campaigns, you can rely on Google Ads for direct impression share data.

After collecting these platform-specific metrics, the next challenge is to combine and make sense of the data for a comprehensive view of your share of voice.

Data Consolidation Steps

Analyzing share of voice across multiple platforms means organizing different types of data into a single, usable framework. This involves normalizing data - converting raw figures into comparable formats like percentages - and ensuring measurements are consistent across platforms and time periods.

Automated tools can make this process easier. For instance, Metrics Watch gathers data from various platforms into unified reports, simplifying the tracking of share of voice across channels.

When consolidating, aim to create standardized scores that reflect the importance of each platform to your overall strategy. This could involve converting raw data into percentages or using weighted averages to prioritize platforms that matter most to your goals.

Data Analysis and Presentation

Data Visualization Guide

Choosing the right visualization method is key to making your data clear and actionable. For example:

Use stacked bar charts to compare competitors.
Use line graphs to highlight trends over time.
Use platform-specific visuals like pie charts for social media or bar charts for PPC campaigns.

Here’s a quick reference:

| Platform | Recommended Visualization | Best For Showing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Social Media | Pie Charts | Share distribution across networks |
| Search | Line Graphs | Keyword ranking changes |
| PPC | Bar Charts | Impression share by campaign |
| Overall SOV | Area Charts | Market position over time

For cross-platform analysis, tools like Metrics Watch help combine data from multiple sources into unified, easy-to-digest reports. Once your data is visually represented, the next step is identifying patterns that lead to actionable strategies.

Finding Data Patterns

Look for trends like seasonal shifts, campaign effects, and changes in audience behavior. A practical approach is using moving averages to smooth out daily noise and reveal long-term trends. For instance, tracking a 30-day moving average of your share of voice can highlight shifts in your position compared to competitors.

Key areas to monitor include:

Seasonal trends in audience engagement
Variations in performance across platforms
Correlations between share of voice and business outcomes
Competitive response times to market changes

These insights not only reflect your brand's performance but also highlight areas where competitors might be gaining an edge.

Competitor Analysis

Analyzing competitors is essential for understanding your position and spotting growth opportunities. Start by benchmarking your industry's typical share of voice distribution, then compare your metrics to those of your competitors.

Here’s a framework to guide your analysis:

| Metric | Analysis Focus | Action Items |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Total SOV | Overall market position | Identify platforms needing more presence |
| Growth Rate | Share changes over time | Learn from competitors’ successful moves |
| Channel Mix | Platform distribution | Adjust resource allocation |
| Engagement Quality | Sentiment and interactions | Refine your content strategy

Pay close attention to platforms where competitors are gaining share quickly - this often signals effective strategies or content that you could adapt for your own campaigns.

Consistently tracking these metrics with automated tools ensures you can respond promptly to shifts in the market and capitalize on new opportunities.

Using Share of Voice Data

Growth Tactics

Focus your efforts on platforms that show the most promise for growth, based on how your audience engages and where competitors are active. Concentrating resources on these areas can yield better results.

To improve content performance, aim to create material that directly meets your audience's needs. Here’s how you can do that:

Incorporate targeted keywords to boost visibility.
Tailor content formats to fit each platform and encourage engagement.
Stay consistent with your brand voice across all channels.
Experiment with different content types to discover what resonates most with your audience.

Combining organic and paid strategies often works best. For example, you might allocate budget to underperforming channels while leveraging strong organic reach on platforms that already perform well. This approach helps maintain steady growth in your share of voice.

Once you've identified growth opportunities, convert these insights into actionable campaigns.

Campaign Implementation

Use share of voice data to craft campaigns that address market gaps and exploit competitor weaknesses.

| <strong>Campaign Element</strong> | <strong>Data Input</strong> |
| --- | --- |
| Platform Selection | Focus on platforms with the greatest growth potential. |
| Content Strategy | Prioritize content types that have shown strong results. |
| Budget Allocation | Invest in channels delivering positive returns. |
| Timing | Launch campaigns during periods of low competitor activity

Flexibility is key. Be ready to adjust campaigns based on real-time performance data. Automated reporting tools can simplify tracking and help you measure the impact of your efforts efficiently.

Ongoing monitoring after launching campaigns ensures that improvements in share of voice are sustained over time.

Regular Performance Tracking

Consistent tracking is crucial to ensure your growth strategies and campaigns deliver lasting results.

Daily monitoring can help you keep tabs on changes in share of voice, competitor activities, and emerging trends.

Weekly Analysis:

Examine how each platform is performing.
Evaluate the success of your campaigns.
Make necessary tactical adjustments.

Monthly Review:

Assess your overall position in the market.
Update your strategies based on performance data.
Reallocate resources to channels delivering the best results.

Automated reporting tools make this process easier, allowing you to focus on refining your strategy instead of manually gathering data. Consolidating information from different sources into a single dashboard gives you a clear view of your share of voice across platforms. If you notice major shifts in your metrics, dig into the reasons behind them and adjust your approach as needed. Regular tracking not only identifies immediate opportunities but also uncovers trends that can shape your long-term marketing plans.

Summary

Process Overview

To effectively analyze share of voice, a well-structured process is key. This begins with gathering high-quality data, which lays the groundwork for accurate metrics and seamless integration across platforms . From there, the data reveals trends and potential opportunities that guide strategic decisions. These insights are then applied through focused campaigns, with performance continuously tracked to ensure success.

Reporting Tools

The right reporting tools make it easier to turn complex data into clear, actionable insights. For instance, Metrics Watch simplifies this by automating data collection and report delivery. It also offers customizable templates to ensure reports align with your brand's look and feel. This automation frees up marketing teams to concentrate on analysis instead of spending time on manual tasks .

When setting up a reporting system, focus on metrics that directly support your marketing goals . Regularly reviewing these metrics can help you spot trends early and adapt quickly to changes in the market. By using automated tools, you can keep a consistent view of performance across all platforms while dedicating more energy to strategy.

FAQs

How do you calculate share of voice compared to competitors?

To calculate Share of Voice (SOV), use this formula: Your brand's metrics ÷ Total market metrics × 100. For instance, if your brand gets 15,000 mentions out of 100,000 total mentions in the market, your SOV would be 15%. Tools like Google Ads can help you analyze PPC metrics, while platforms like Ahrefs are great for SEO-related data .

How can you measure share of voice on social media?

Measuring SOV on social media involves tracking your brand's mentions as a percentage of all mentions in your industry. To get deeper insights, consider analyzing sentiment (positive, negative, or neutral) and the quality of engagement. Tools such as Brandwatch can automate mention tracking and sentiment analysis, while Metrics Watch helps combine data from various platforms into a single report .